AbstractWith intensified contradiction between the rapid development of modern industry and the carrying capacity of natural environment, coordinating the relationship between economic benefits and ecological benefits is a significant issue to be solved for modern industrial engineering. This paper firstly conducts the comparative analysis between traditional and ecological industry as well as traditional and modern industrial engineering, and indicates that eco-industrial engineering is an inevitable choice for sustainable development of modern industrial engineering; Then, based on industrial ecology, environmental economics and sustainable development theory, the connotation and definition of ecoindustrial engineering are proposed, and the theoretical and practical development of the concepts of eco-industrial engineering are further investigated. Furthermore, the research subject, research content, academic system architecture and evaluation methods of eco-industrial engineering are discussed. Finally, combining the current scientific and technological development, we put forward the important scientific value and practical significance of constructing eco-industrial engineering for the utilization of these concepts.